IT is a Union that has been forged over more than three centuries, building bonds that could – according to the SNP, at least – be severed in just 16 months.

The case for Britain will begin to be made at the historic Signet Library

Fittingly, the case for Britain will begin to be made at the historic Signet Library, in Edinburgh, where the Royal Family gathered last year before Prince William was honoured as Knight of the Thistle.

That such close ties could be cast aside in less than two years has been put into further doubt today, as a new investigation by this newspaper has discovered that it could take a decade to unpick the laws that bind Scotland to the rest of the United Kingdom.

Analysis of statute books held by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and the Office of the Queen’s Printer for Scotland show there are more than 6,000 pieces of legislation currently in force north of the Border.

An independent Scotland would be faced with years of negotiations and redrafting

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie

More than half of these are Acts of Parliament, which have been debated at length and passed by both the Commons and the Lords before gaining Royal Assent. For these laws to be adopted by an independent Scotland, they would have to be approved by Holyrood or Alex Salmond would face claims he was being undemocratic.

However, in the 14 years since the Scottish Parliament was formed, MSPs have only managed to pass 193 Acts, with 19 the most ever passed in a single year. Ministers and civil servants have also created 5,736 statutory instruments since 1999, with the most being 582 in 2007.

At this rate – dealing with around 600 pieces of legislation a year – it would take a decade to plough through all the legal paperwork.

In addition to this Herculean task, ministers and civil servants would still have to actually run the country, casting further doubt on Nicola Sturgeon’s dream of becoming independent in March 2016.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie, who has also raised questions about the 14,000 international treaties signed by the UK Foreign Office, said the negotiations would take years.

He said: “An independent Scotland would be faced with years of negotiations and redrafting in order to untangle the mass of legislation accrued across the United Kingdom over the past three hundred years. This would be made more difficult due to the fact negotiations would take place with both the UK and international state actors, all vying for the best deal for their country.

“As part of the UK, Scotland has a strong parliament which legislates for Scotland on a range of domestic issues, whilst working with the UK on the global stage. To tear that apart would be a costly and potentially damaging process for Scotland and its industries. The Nationalists need to go back to the drawing board with their sorely miscalculated timescale and be upfront with people about the realities of separation.”

There are currently 3,357 UK Acts of Parliament which apply in Scotland.

From one year chosen at random – 1992 – there are 52 laws governing areas as diverse as human fertilisation, museums, charities, trade unions, timeshares, cheques, prescriptions by nurses, the coal industry, social security benefits and bingo.

The tangle of 2,057 statutory instruments, known as secondary legislation and created by the government without a vote, will also be difficult and time-consuming to sort out.

Some 57 applicable to Scotland have gone on the statute books already this year alone, including amendments to regulations governing Corporation Tax, car emissions, sanctions against Iran, the National Savings Bank and Tonnage Tax.

There are also dozens of UK Local Acts, Church Measures – governing such things as cathedrals, prayer books and holy communion – and even Welsh and Northern Irish laws which affect Scotland.